By Kiley Harris With summer coming up, it is interview season for many college students. Interviews can be intimidating. You have about 20 minutes to make a great first impression in hopes of making it to the second round. A lot of students get anxiety about interviews, however, and approach them wrong. According to an article called “How to Rock A Job Interview” from Forbes, students are approaching their interviews incorrectly. “A job interview is a business meeting where you and your interviewer will explore the possibility of a collaboration,” says author Liz Ryan, “That's all. There's no stage, no judge and no audience.” You can now breathe a sigh of relief, as this should be comforting. Ryan hits on the idea that an interview, although it doesn't seem like it, is a mutual process. You get to choose where you want to work and you get to ask questions as well. You want them to be a good fit for you, just as much as you should be a good fit for their company. Don’t get me wrong, this does not mean you aren’t trying to impress the employer with your awesome skills, because you are. Think of it as more of a conversation than a show and you'll be just fine. If it doesn’t go well, then it probably wasn’t a good fit anyway. So before your next interview prepare ahead of time with a different mindset. Prepare thoughtfully. Prepare questions about the company and the position that will help build a more natural flow of conversation. Prepare questions that will help you decide if this company is a good fit for you. And last but certainly not least, take a deep breath, be confident and stay true to who you are.
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The Miami Student – Jugal Jain By: Claire Bowman As I stepped inside Armstrong Student Center on March 26, I heard a commotion from the main dining area. I approached with curiosity, and found a full-fledged protest in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Spread around the dining tables, a group of black students and white allies held up signs and shouted to the students in Armstrong. One student held a megaphone and lead the chants. “Do black lives matter?” “Yes!” the crowd yelled back. The protest was in response to a student’s (Thomas Wright) continued racist behaviors toward black Miami students. Many people believe the university didn’t respond strongly enough to the student when he used racial slurs in a GroupMe among Miami students in the fall of 2017. Another chant used at the demonstration was, “Do black checks matter?” and the crowd again yelled in agreement. This was a dig at the way the university uses the illusion of diversity to bring people in. The black protesters were angry that they had been used in the past to promote diversity when the school rarely supports it in their eyes. These students were heard by many that day, and the news of continued racism at Miami is spreading far beyond the campus. So far, many believe the university is lackluster in its responsive performance. Many have called for the racist student’s expulsion, but Miami hasn’t budged. If student and faculty behaviors continue in this fashion, Miami’s public image is only going to worsen. How can the university bounce back if it lets itself fall too far into complacency? By Kiley Harris Summer is just around the corner, and with summer comes internships. Many students have either landed their dream internship already, are currently interviewing, or are still in the application process. Wherever you fall on this spectrum, don’t worry. You have time. From someone personally going through the interview process, I know how hard it can be to set yourself apart from other candidates, especially in the competitive world of public relations. One great way to set yourself apart is by creating a personal website. A website is a great way to show employers all the amazing work you have done in school and in past positions. A website is an easy way to display all your accomplishments in one unique, professional and organized way. Next time you have a few free hours, play around on a website creator and see where it takes you. You have endless choices to make your website unique and showcase your skills. Try out websites like Wordpress, Wix and Weebly, as they are easy to use and offer a lot of choices. A couple key things to include on your website include a professional photo of you, your contact info, your resume, an about you page and your sample work. Make sure to show off your best work that you are most proud of. Also don’t sell yourself short in your about me page. This is your place to shine. Focus on your accomplishments, your relevant experience, your hobbies, your study abroad, etc. This will make you more personable, as well as professional, to the employer. If I haven’t convinced you to try creating a website, check out this article from USA Today on the importance of a personal website. By: Samantha Conti From month to month, PRSA hosts a variety of webinars on multiple different topics. These webinars are extremely useful to many professionals and students in the PR field. In the past, there have been webinars discussing many things such as how to write better, keep a professional image, and work on leadership. On March 29, there will be a webinar talking about the soft skills that are helpful and wanted in the professional world.
By: Mary Claire Reagan In today’s society more than ever, it is often difficult to respond to criticism. Whether it be from family, co-workers, bosses, or professors no matter who it is from, it is tough to swallow. Well how should one deal with this criticism towards all of the hard efforts given? Dan Simmons, a restaurant owner shares his own experiences with how he bounced back from criticism towards his restaurant in a manner the whole world can learn from? Simmons gives multiple pieces of advice with the first being to not respond. In fact, we should respond through improvements to our customers – not in replying, especially on the internet. Next. he ads to recognize the criticism and grow from it. Whether it be becoming more transparent with customers or brainstorming small ways to improve, one should use it as an opportunity to grow. As a whole, criticism keeps business and individuals adapting and moving forward. Although not all criticism is true, a lot can serve as a response to comments other than comments back. So next time we are faced with negative reactions, turn them into positive notions. By: Rachel Zetwick One of the most important things for a PR professional to do is to stay up to date on the news from around the world. But, if you are just beginning your PR career and aren’t sure where to start, it can be hard to know where to look for the latest news. Here are a few resources you can use daily to make sure you are informed of the most important news stories and conversations. The Skimm The Skimm is a daily email newsletter that summarizes the most important news stories of the day in a conversational and easy-to-understand voice. The Skimm is great to look at over a cup of coffee or on your commute to work as it is quick to read and reports on timely topics. The New York Times Morning Briefing Similar to The Skimm, The New York Times offers a morning briefing that is published at 6 a.m. every weekday. The email newsletter gives an informed synopsis of timely events and topics. Additionally, the newsletter links to The New York Times’ podcast “The Daily.” Flipboard is an app that personalizes news stories for each individual user. The app allows the user to select what they are passionate about. It then curates stories, conversations and relevant links and articles to inform its audience. The stories are easy to share with family and friends. By: Samantha Conti Next month, PRSA is holding a virtual career fair on April 18 from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. The main goal of the event is to help people succeed in finding a job as well as connect and build relationships with others and their organizations. PRSA suggests that everyone from students to professionals to attend the event who are looking to learn and find job opportunities. A list of PRSA member positions include:
By Rachel Zetwick During college, it can be hard to travel for a job or internship interview because of busy schedules and long distances. Because of this, many students are required to participate in live video interviews instead of traditional in-person interviews. With many public relations job application deadlines fast approaching, here are some tips for your next video interview. Get Used to the Technology A few hours or even days before your interview, practice using the technology you will be using for your video call. Whether the company you are interviewing with uses Skype, Zoom or another program, make sure you know how it works and that your computer’s microphone and video are working properly. This way, you can prevent technical mishaps during your interview. Choose a Neutral Background While your posters and pictures may make your dorm room look cool, they definitely won’t help during a video interview. Stage your camera in front of a neutral background so you do not distract your interviewers. By: Hannah Banas Public relations is a quickly growing field, and the demand for jobs and education in the field is rising. More and more college students are taking an interest in studying public relations, so many colleges are adding it as a major. With this increase, the demographics of the field are also changing. Public relations used to be a male dominated area of expertise, but has shifted to employing more women. 70 percent of public relations professionals are women, but they are in the technician roles. Men are mainly in the executive roles, while women are still stuck in the lower level positions. There is also a need for more diversity with the increasing globalization of public relations. Having more diversity will help public relations companies be able to better communicate with other countries’ firms. Public relations is changing, but there is still room for improvement. There are income discrepancies between men and women, and while it may be partially caused by different amounts of work experience, it is still an issue that needs to be addressed. In the upcoming years, it is expected that there will be a shift in the demographics of the public relations field, and it will be interesting to see how that affects yearly earnings and promotion potential for public relations professionals. By Grace Wells I’m sure we have all been scrolling through our Facebook one time or another and wondered, how did this ad come up? Well, turns out Facebook has a whole process for choosing which advertisements appear on your page. The advertisements are chosen based on activity on Facebook for example, liking a page or a post. The ads are also chosen according to account information including your location, age, gender and what device you are using. The Facebook advertisers also take into account any information you post on Facebook such as, your own comments and posts. In addition to, Facebook’s marketing partners share the information they have like, your email address. Facebook also, looks at your activity on other websites and apps off of Facebook to determine what ads to show you. Despite these, complex processes to choose which ads appear on your page, there are ways you can control which ads you see. In order to do this, you can adjust your ad preferences. This will explain to you why you are seeing this ad and you manage your ad preferences as well. You can also use interest- based advertising controls. Sources: https://www.facebook.com/help/562973647153813/ https://storyful.com/blog/2016/04/12/five-tips-for-improving-facebook-discovery/ By: Tyler Madsen Arizona Wildcats head coach Sean Miller being caught by FBI wiretaps is one of the latest scandals rocking the college basketball world. Wiretap evidence show’s Miller discussed a payment of $100,000 to secure top recruit, and current player, DeAndre Ayton. The money offer was accepted by Ayton and his family, he then signed with the Wildcats. As we all know college athletes are not to be paid on top of their scholarships, so Sean Miller and the whole Arizona athletic department are facing major sanctions from the NCAA and potential criminal charges from the FBI. Arizona has already lost a key commitment in Shareef O’Neal, son of Shaquille O’Neal, his de-commitment was announced on February 25th. With Miller’s departure ahead within the next few days or weeks, the school has to deal with the assumed death penalty to the program that will be handed to them by the NCAA. The death penalty is when the team is not allowed to compete in the sport for the year and is the harshest penalty a school can receive. Now Arizona’s athletic department must put their crisis management procedures in order to help repair their image. Source: https://www.si.com/college-basketball/2018/02/25/sean-miller-deandre-ayton-arizona-ncaa-fbi-investigation By: Rachel Zetwick When you are only 20 or so years old, beginning to build your network can be quite a daunting task. However, it is so important to build your network as you begin searching for internships and jobs during college. Reaching out to mentors, professors and college peers can help you learn about the public relations industry and could potentially help you land a great job. Here are some ideas to begin building your network: Meet With Your Professors One of the most helpful ways to network I have found in my four years at Miami University is to meet with my communications professors regularly. Even if it is only once a semester, talking with a professor can help you discover your long-term career goals and can potentially introduce you to even more contacts that can help you during an internship or job search. Professors want to help you, so it is a great idea to set up a meeting to learn more about their experiences. Set Up Phone Calls This may seem scary at first, but reaching out to contacts with jobs that you are interested in may help you learn how to be successful in the public relations field. While their company may not have any available positions, it can be very helpful to learn about their personal job search and responsibilities in their job. And who knows - they may think of you when a job opening comes up! Talk to Older Students I have gained so many mentors on campus by reaching out to older students at Miami University. This has been so helpful to learn about anything from Career Fair to learning how to use LinkedIn. If you know an older student with a similar major or interests, reach out to them to build your path to success. |
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